When Lorne Michaels and the original cast departed at the end of season five, new producer Jean Doumanian decided to retain the two-tier system that had been created the season before (see below). "The Not Ready for Prime Time Players" would become reserved for the original cast, and the new top tier of Doumanian's cast became known as the Repertory Players, a name still used today.

The separate grouping was created for season five. At the end of the previous season, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi had departed.Michaels decided to also create a lower tier of cast members for bit parts. Previously, writers had played these parts uncredited, and indeed, most of the new credited cast members were long-time writers on the show. (During the season, Harry Shearer was promoted to The Not Ready For Prime Time Players; he was the first featured player ever promoted and the only person to ever be promoted to The Not Ready For Prime Time Players.)

When Doumanian took over the following year, she decided to keep this two-tier system. While the entire cast was new, she placed the actors into separate categories. That season also marked the first time a featured player was promoted to repertory, when Eddie Murphy was moved.

After Doumanian's firing, new producer Dick Ebersol made little use of the featured player category, with only one in season 7 (Brian Doyle-Murray, a featured player in season five and writer under Doumanian), and none in the following three seasons. When Lorne Michaels returned for season 11, he did as Doumanian had done in the sixth season and placed his new cast into two groups, thus cementing the system. From Michaels return into the 1990s, featured players were only credited when they were scheduled to appear; in any given episode, only some of the featured players on the cast roster would appear in the opening montage.

The featured players are where new cast members are placed; all new cast members since season 23 have started as featured.

Seasons 16-18 used a system of dividing the cast into three groups. The new middle group didn't have an official name; announcer Don Pardo simply prefaced the first name with the word "with", while variously using "with" or "starring" to introduce the repertory players. When the category was created, it was comprised two new cast members, Chris Farley and Chris Rock; after season 18, all five members of the category were promoted to repertory status.